Best Death Metal album of 2010 and in my top 20 albums of all time, it combines quite a unique mix deathcore and progressive death metal.

If you enjoy bands like Between The Buried And Me and Born of Osiris and deathcore in general you should definitely give this one a try.

Contortionists were from my town man! I graduated highschool with 4 of them, the singer is from a different part of the state. Ive known these chumps since 2nd grade haha. So weird seeing them as rockstars now I knew em when they were still called " at the hands of machines". Have that ep, sporadic movements, under that name, shapeshifter and exoplanet.

New album from them, and it's totally awesome. Actually a three piece band now with a live drummer. Really really really with I could have gone to see them live on tour with Between the Buried and Me.

I thought thier previous album was a lot better, maybe i need to give this one another spin.

Originally Posted by btbam

Contortionists were from my town man! I graduated highschool with 4 of them, the singer is from a different part of the state. Ive known these chumps since 2nd grade haha. So weird seeing them as rockstars now I knew em when they were still called " at the hands of machines". Have that ep, sporadic movements, under that name, shapeshifter and exoplanet.

Shapeshifter had quite a different style, I'm glad they changed vocalist and became a bit more melodic.

Last edited by Nuvian; 01-12-2012 at 13:08.

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

I thought thier previous album was a lot better, maybe i need to give this one another spin.

Shapeshifter had quite a different style, I'm glad they changed vocalist and became a bit more melodic.

They had another vocalist while at the hands of machines. He was awful. Worse than the one on shapeshifter. Sporadic movemenst sounds alot like shapefiter but it's faster and really chuggy. An amature ep, but they were only 17 at the time haha

Its not the last album i've heard, but i have picky taste in music, so an album i want to listen doesn't come along often. So i will review one of my absolute favorites.

Still Life by Opeth
Released 1999 (2001 in US)
Still Life is a concept album. Front-man Mikael Åkerfeldt explains: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."

The concept.
"The Moor" introduces the main character as an outcast of a theocratic state because he did not share the same religious beliefs with the others. He was called an "ungodly freak, defiler", and was "branded a Jonah with fevered blood". He recalls being beaten, burned, covered with mud, and banished from his town. He is now returning 15 years later for his love, Melinda, whom he had to leave behind when he was banished.

"Godhead's Lament" finds the outcast attempting to conceal his return. He contemplates the consequences and considers leaving for safety's sake, but he does not because his love for her outweighs his will to live. Much of the song consists of his observation of Melinda from afar. The song also introduces the watchful eye of the religious authority and emphasizes the danger that he is in.

"Benighted" reads like a love letter, an unspoken ode to Melinda. The outcast tries to convince Melinda to run away with him and observes that the grip of the society's religion has taken control of her life. He argues that the only way for her to free herself is to come with him.

"Moonlapse Vertigo" is a reminder that the people of the town would kill him if they realized he was there. The song references the Council of the Cross, the theocratic government, who openly shows scorn for the disgraced and the poor. He realizes that he has almost no time left to flee and decides to meet Melinda at last and lead her out of the country with him. The outcast expresses his immense hatred towards the Council as well as his concern for Melinda.

"Face of Melinda" paints the black-haired lady as a quiet, brooding creature as he approaches her. After his failure to court her, she became a nun, a "harlot of god"; however, he does not give up and "plot(s) to have her back" to fill his emptiness. He is disheartened, but tells her about all that he had risked to return to her. She tells him of her own moral failings, but surprises even herself when she tells him that she still loves him. The song ends with a grim clue of what's to come—"and baffled herself with the final line / 'my promise is made but my heart is thine'"—which implies that these are Melinda's last words.

"Serenity Painted Death" begins when the outcast awakens to find Melinda has been taken and her throat slit for associating with the outcast. Consumed by pent-up fury, he brutally kills the soldiers who had killed Melinda. He continues to kill every soldier he can before "At last, weak and torn, [he] went down / Drained from strength, flickering breath." As his mind wanders, the Council of the Cross is there to take him.

"White Cluster" begins with the outcast returning from a dream-like state to find himself in a jail cell. The Council of the Cross tries to make him repent but he is insincere. He is led to the gallows to be hanged. The townspeople who have gathered to watch the execution wear white, representing their belief that he was born without a soul. The hangman approaches him and ties the noose, allowing him a moment of reflection before he is hanged. Just before he meets his end, he feels a hand on his shoulder and when he looks around he sees Melinda standing just behind him, waiting for him to join her in death.

This album is absolutly brutal. Along with the dark and melancholy lyrical content, Akerfeldt's growling in this album are substantially deeper than previous endavors. His clean vocals exhibit a much larger range and really mark the beginning of Opeth's style of gutteral growling and chilling beauty. The overall sound in the album is very robust. The complex chords throughout the album offer subtle nuances one wouldn't expect in a death metal band. The break downs the band is famous for also incorporate jazz influence as well as classical influence. TThe album is 62 minutes long meaning the 6 of the 7 tracks clock in 8-10 minutes with only "Benighted" as the exception acting as a ballad. Even with long tracks, the songs continue to feel fresh throughout even after multiple listens because the tracks are so complex and nuanced. For a fan of death metal or a fan of progressive rock, this album is a must have. Its complexity will keep nearly anybody interested if they are willing to invest the time to listen to it with a critical ear.

Final review 9.5/10. Few albums can match the brutality, or the beauty in any meaningful way. New people to the genre might find themselves surprised and old headbangers will find a home.

I actually just got back from an In Flames & Trivium concert. Great stuff. And I saw Tool a few weeks ago.

It will be! I saw opeth live a few years back. Lots of headbanging. Played some great tunes that night. Only problem I'd have now is how much the sound has changed. I seem to like the older stuff better. Heritage is great and watershed has killer moments but still life will probably always be my favorite followed closely by blackwater park and then my arms, your hearse.

Awesome and experimental grunge album. Aye Davinita is just one example of them going experimental, and it works, but as always, the vocals from Vedder's golden voice and Ament's guitar riffs are superb. Can't believe I'm the only hardcore Pearl Jam fan here.

I really like their first two albums, but I feel they become pretty forgettable after that. I'll listen to them again at some point though.

All I know is that I definitely prefer Alice In Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden to them. Mainly because Pearl Jam is softer and has more of a Post-Grunge sound.

By the way, have you ever heard Temple Of The Dog and Mad Season? Those were two super groups in the 90s who made one album each. The former involved Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, while the latter involved Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam.

being from Washington, we got nothing but that Grunge crap, i do think the song Evenflow is better than anything Nirvana ever released, now they $#@!in sucked. not a pearl jam fan though, i liked Alice in Chains and some Soundgarden

Let's be honest: You sleep with anything that walks on two legs. Sometimes, you're not even that discriminating

I remember when I first heard about this album, it was about 4 years ago when I started listening to Alexisonfire and my mate told me the guitarist Dallas Green had a little side project. I was really surprised and amazed at how good his songs were, and I was pretty much hooked from then on. Since then I've been meaning to have an actual copy of this album and last week I finally bought it and damn it feels so good I can't really pick a favourite song because I love them all, but I thought I would share this one

Since I'm posting the latest metal albums I've listened to in the metal thread, I'll just post the other albums in this thread...

Rush - Hemispheres

Genre: Progressive Rock

Released: 1978

Rating: 4.5/5

Nothing much to say here. Just some great progressive rock. There's only four songs, but they all deliver. The last track, "La Villa Strangiato", is especially interesting.

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

Genre: Experimental Rock, Jazz, Blues

Released: 1985

Rating: 5/5

This is the first album I've heard from this gentleman and it more than delivered. One would think there would be at least one or two duds out of 18 songs, but no, every song is good here, there's great variety, and yet the album flows very well throughout. Tom Waits has one of the most distinguished voices in rock, as it's very low and can almost sound like a death metal grunt at times. I like it and feel it fits his bluesy and quirky music very well, but it's the most divisive factor when it comes to his music.

Gravity is Lacrae's latest album and his first mainstream album. It was a huge disappointment and nothing compared to Rehab or After the Music Stops. The best songs are: "Mayday", "Buttons", "Fakin", "Falling Down," and my favorite and probably the best song on the entire album, "Free From it All".

This album is a major disappointment, I hope Lacare goes back to what made his previous albums good.

I went back to this gem when an assignment for Editing class reminded me of how much I loved it a few years ago. Really just a phenomenally well-produced piece of experimental music. Gorillaz really is an exercise in orderly chaos and sonic layers.

Bullet for My Valentine Temper Temper 6/10- By far their worst album. It just sounded lazy and not much effort put into if. Hopefully this isn't a new direction for them and they will get back to their poison days.